1984 Volume 5 Issue 1 Pages 61-66
The concentration of glucagon-like materials, i.e., glucagon immunoreactivity (GI) and glucagon-like immunoreactivity (GLI), in the canine brain was measured by radioimmunoassay before and after injection of insulin or concomitant infusion of glucose and insulin. The amount of GI in the thalamus-hypothalamus was increased in insulin-induced hypoglycemic dogs (hypoglycemia and hyperinsulinemia), and decreased in glucose-insulin infused dogs (hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia). These results indicated that brain GI responds inversely to plasma glucose levels in the presence of hyperinsulinemia. Our previous observation suggested that the brain GI was increased in both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia when insulin was absent. It is deduced that the brain GI increases in either hypoglycemia or hypoinsulinemia which may induce intracellular glycopenia.
